The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel may not be the best nor the most exotic movie you watch this year. But it is a quintessential British movie, featuring the creme de la creme of veteran British acting talent, who all look like they're having the time of their life.
The movie's premise is simple. A group of seven British pensioners end up at a retirement hotel in Jaipur, India that promises to be a haven "for the elderly and beautiful." Every member of the group has a different reason for being there: Evelyn (Judi Dench) is recently widowed, had to sell her house to cover huge debts, and wants to get away from it all; Graham (Tom Wilkinson) has abruptly retired from being a high court judge and wants to return to Jaipur where he grew up as a boy; Jean (Penelope Wilton) and Doug (Bill Nighy) need a cheap place to retire to after losing most of their savings from a bad investment; Madge (Celia Imrie) is in search of yet another husband to liven up her days; Norman (Ronald Pickup) is refusing to act his age and is on an incessant pursuit of one-night stands; and Muriel (Maggie Smith) is a retired housekeeper with thoroughly racist ideas who is nonetheless forced to go to India where she can undergo a cheaper hip replacement operation. That is an impressive roster of actors and they all deliver effortlessly wonderful performances. As you would expect.
The proprietor of the Marigold Hotel is Sonny (Dev Patel, with an exaggerated but somewhat better Indian accent than he had in Slumdog Millionaire). He has no idea how to run this business but is an eternal optimist who believes that everything will fall into place. The English folk react to his incompetence in very different ways. Graham, who grew up in India, is just delighted to be there and takes everything in his stride as he tries to accomplish a secret mission, whereas Jean, who didn't want to come to India in the first place, refuses to even leave the hotel and complains continually about the food. Evelyn finds a job at a call center to make ends meet and becomes increasingly close to Doug who is getting frustrated with his wife's complaints, while Maggie, despite having a horror of all brown people, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the hotel maid and gradually discovers that maybe these Indians aren't such strange creatures after all. Madge and Norman face various trials as they try to pick up people at posh clubs - like all movies with multiple story arcs, these two don't have much substance and kind of fall by the wayside.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not a groundbreaking movie but it is a great example of light and pleasant storytelling. The actors elevate the material and bring just the right touch of comedy and heart in that special British way. The stories are varied and engaging and you can't help but root for these retirees and their assorted ambitions. Senior citizens have lives that are just as full and complicated as the young and this movie is a genteel and humorous reminder that old age is no reason to stop living and loving life.
The movie's premise is simple. A group of seven British pensioners end up at a retirement hotel in Jaipur, India that promises to be a haven "for the elderly and beautiful." Every member of the group has a different reason for being there: Evelyn (Judi Dench) is recently widowed, had to sell her house to cover huge debts, and wants to get away from it all; Graham (Tom Wilkinson) has abruptly retired from being a high court judge and wants to return to Jaipur where he grew up as a boy; Jean (Penelope Wilton) and Doug (Bill Nighy) need a cheap place to retire to after losing most of their savings from a bad investment; Madge (Celia Imrie) is in search of yet another husband to liven up her days; Norman (Ronald Pickup) is refusing to act his age and is on an incessant pursuit of one-night stands; and Muriel (Maggie Smith) is a retired housekeeper with thoroughly racist ideas who is nonetheless forced to go to India where she can undergo a cheaper hip replacement operation. That is an impressive roster of actors and they all deliver effortlessly wonderful performances. As you would expect.The proprietor of the Marigold Hotel is Sonny (Dev Patel, with an exaggerated but somewhat better Indian accent than he had in Slumdog Millionaire). He has no idea how to run this business but is an eternal optimist who believes that everything will fall into place. The English folk react to his incompetence in very different ways. Graham, who grew up in India, is just delighted to be there and takes everything in his stride as he tries to accomplish a secret mission, whereas Jean, who didn't want to come to India in the first place, refuses to even leave the hotel and complains continually about the food. Evelyn finds a job at a call center to make ends meet and becomes increasingly close to Doug who is getting frustrated with his wife's complaints, while Maggie, despite having a horror of all brown people, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the hotel maid and gradually discovers that maybe these Indians aren't such strange creatures after all. Madge and Norman face various trials as they try to pick up people at posh clubs - like all movies with multiple story arcs, these two don't have much substance and kind of fall by the wayside.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not a groundbreaking movie but it is a great example of light and pleasant storytelling. The actors elevate the material and bring just the right touch of comedy and heart in that special British way. The stories are varied and engaging and you can't help but root for these retirees and their assorted ambitions. Senior citizens have lives that are just as full and complicated as the young and this movie is a genteel and humorous reminder that old age is no reason to stop living and loving life.
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